Off-Campus Housing

Around USC

There is a great demand from USC students for housing around campus. Although housing is available in many areas around the University Park Campus, most USC students live just north of campus.

International students and scholars interested in living around campus should consider the availability of USC trams and USC Campus Cruiser in that vicinity.

OIS strongly recommends that students rent within the patrol areas of the USC Department of Public Safety (DPS) since USC is located in a very urban neighborhood. In general, these patrol areas are to the north of USC and straight to the west but not to the south for the University Park Campus. Housing may be more affordable outside of the patrol areas but we strongly recommend that students stay within these areas for safety reasons. DPS patrol areas are available below:

Away from Campus

Many USC students, including international students, prefer living further away from campus. Some prefer living in the beach communities, others prefer the hills, and depending on the neighborhood, rent may be lower than housing closer to USC. Popular neighborhoods among USC students include West Los Angeles, Culver City, West/North Hollywood, Los Feliz, the beach communities such as Santa Monica, Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and Alhambra.

Those considering living farther from campus will have many more choices, but the transportation options should be taken into consideration. Los Angeles is one of the busiest urban centers in the U.S., and traffic can cause long delays. Several communities are within reasonable driving distance to USC and the Los Angeles public transportation system provides options as well.

Online Map Search Engines

There are several online map search engines to see where an apartment is in reference to USC campuses. They include Google Maps, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, etc.

The zip code of USC main campus is 90089 and the zip code of the USC Health Sciences Campus is 90033.